Liquid electric controller



Dec. 9, 1930. H. BRQKE 19734332 LIQUID ELECTRIC CONTROLLER Filed Jan. 3l, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 9, 1930. l H. BROOKE LIQUID ELECTRIC CONTROLLER Filed Jan. 31, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

l 'i Applieationf ledafnuaryl, Vi928, Seria1-No. fThis'linvehiieillreleiefie.litiiidfeleeiiie eentrellereoithe .movingeleeilese type.' ,and hesiter iteebjeei te previde, eeeiiirellerei .e .this` type hevi'ilg. an .increased .range ef. fre# 5 s'lstance.

lcircuit-of the motor to beoogt-rolled. l.

l 'f The'. present y.inv'entca comprise/el a ('liqiiid electrica Y,controller wherein 4 means, are I pro- .videdv for .A .varying .thedepth Y of eubmersfioh of the. .electrodes` Simultaneous with (varying their, distance-apart.

. l i .The Velectrodes maybe .haveno vertical movemell and the'fdepthrof ,slibmersion .of them inf the electrolyte maybe wvariedbymeans of. a ,vertically movablenvveir. In" the preferred form of theapparatugforie I,electrode .isxed and. .the rother vmevahle to andfrom it by. mechanism, QperativelyCoh-k hneeted ,to lmeehansmor moving a deptheQn- 4trollingvveir ithe vesselconta'hng the eleg- ,trolyte Both @fthe ,elctrodesmay ,be-H103- able and meanslfprovided ,whereby eachy can be moved-toand'from the other jandqvvithrthe ,whole or agportiolrofthis Amovement ,e-fjeeted simultaneously With that. of, .the ,Weir-Q .l wTvvo'methodspofgearryng outth'e invention. are .illustrated ,dagrammatieally `hymthe accompanying drawings, 1F igule :,Lheilng' a l general .seetonalfview Aof one method, While Figures 2., 34 and .el` areseetional tranversef and longitudinal' elevations ofthel second method.

,\Figure.-2fis.atransverse .view Shovvingrthe s .moving` eleetrodesawvhile Figure Bis a similar viewshowing the fixed electrodes@ j,

.In these drawings 2 isfa troughontaiiin-g V.a suitableeleetrOlyteVSaiS-a yixed eleetrode or group. of .iXed electro des. ,'xedl'at ,one t end ofthe trough 2*, and 4 -amovable electrodezor l.group .thereof movable. along .the .trough 2te :andffrom-the fixed .electrode 3 ,bylan Operai?- ifag y'rod lvvhiehalso .holdthe movableel'ectrodei the desired depthinthe .trough Iv2. I. In Figure littheftrough.2is. oithe' usal VCirculating pump 7 Vdrawing the electrolyte y LIQUIDELECTRICCTBOLILR 250,314; znfiiiLGi-,eaarita'm Marcnjiezv., freielaeeelingi'eeerveirf8 eenteiiiiiig. iSyS'f- ';te1i,1..eitii,bee9 'th.1eue'hwhiehe .eeeliilgme- .i,1i.1i1i.,.111ey.lbeeileuleied in; .eey 4.Saiitibl'e er geneva, ,pump 7, .lie 'kept work- Iiiig. ingsiieh ,e manner este. maintain. the llevel et Jthe '.eleetrolyte. ai. .ihefheight efftlie veir Whatever its ,position viiifay he.y wA/gtfthle eidJ of the ireegheppeeite the .lixeelf eleeilrode is ,fplerided a'veiiieelly movable. .Weir '1.0 .which dieehereee eleetifelyte flown eil. Outlet '14 leadngtethe. .eooliiigreeerveir 8.

IYL-,heeletel ie tiene f O1i he'beee e'SP'- ,perte .tlieieei is.. 191. are 'ef Porcelain 0i [ether Suitable. 'ieeeleiinemeieriel l '.1...The-vertieailymeyeble 'Weir 1,0 iSf eupfed ley aitepeergilexlble member. 1ly ywhich@Sees 'over a guide pulley 122. ahdfis"y eonneted 4to AL.he.eulileeitiilglmeleibelr13 ef the meveble .;1e1ee.trede4,f;1i ff ,1.2 AnySiliteblemeenS arepelvided fief/OpelatiiiglltheLr/edn,,elsefeuiieblepriieaneaie pre.- ;vid.. ieru eeimeeting.. the electrodes l10- the ,'eleetieleadsl.jef;fthemete. erisvstem to b'e '.1M111ii1e1yii.1e mechanism, ,maybe previded girgirng. the desired, relative mevemeliis ef gltliawei-rl0e1id ,eleetreele e., erihelileehenism ...beedarreiigesiiheterelteii @fiile nievelneiitfei" the electr-@Cle ililiy be effeeied www@ .ingihe wei 1,01 eheremainder eiitsiiieveieeiii,beiligeeetesi Si'iiitieeusly rvithviiiefaeveiieeiittithe.iieii l@ "l Figures., 2, .3; ,enel e .,tbe' /eiee'peiidiiig Lreitieiis are.. given, the. Same reference .'Ii-

videdviihaLeerer@ and' with en .Oiiie 14- IVY,Asniiizthe'*previous .eg'ample they outlet 14 aflieehergeeintee reeervei ,Seievded Wiiiieil foutlet @a movable'eleetrodes 4 are vstiependedjft om 16 Ahy fmeans o ff-lol'tsA 17. Y"

lheelisle le, .ie eiieperiedene .eeniielred '18 fixeefetiteeppeeiie .eiide in. the'. welle eifihe teek2afii1d ieele@,rrevideelwiih.eppeeifely elielleeeefl 11,6@ and, .1.6 @.Irevidedet ,their lende. with reilelielfi .running-011 Teils 20a,

20a. Y. f

o @type providedwithaainlete @onnetedloa @9,231,110 a' breeliet 23ev eieiifling ireiil ihe reservoir 8,the rlower end of the lever QQ'beig connected by a pin 22a to a controlling or operating rod 24.

The fixed electrodes 3 are Supported in troughs 25 of insulating material each provided with a passage 26 open at one end to the electrolyte trough and communicating at the other with passage 27 leading tothe electrolyte inlet 6.' i i i Themaximum level of the electrolyte is indicated at 28 and the minimum level at 29. The leads of the rotor or. other device undercontrol are connected to the xed electrodes by a terminal 0.

The weir l() in the present example is in the form of ahelical edgeformedV on a tube extending upwards from the, outlet 14, and is covered by a rotary sleeve 31 havinga rectangular opening 32`and adapted tolbe rotated bytivo pins 3,3 and- 34 extending from itsupper edge and engaging opposite sides ot a lever 35 pivoted at 3,6 and having at its upperend a fork 3f? engaging a pin 38 @XT tending laterally trom the rod 5,

'lh'e'operation is as follows: When the moving electrode is moved along the rod i8 by the lever 22 by the rod 24:, pin 38 effects va corresponding movement ot the lever`35 and the sleeve 3l is rotated to move the Opening 32 to a corresponding position up or down the inclined weir lOto ensure the level of the electrolyte in the trough 2, being that required for the adjusted distance between the fixed and movable electrodes. i

' iiieans oi' either of these devices in the sequence of operations the` electrode could be staited to move` and the` Weir started 'toy rise withV a very small sectionI yof the electrolyte andotthe elect-rode in circuit, andthe depth olf the electrolyte caused to increase gradually until the trough was full, so that when the electrode has novecl to say half its travel they remaining halt` of the strohe could be used tostart up a motor under the heaviest load conditions -by bringing the moving electrode into` mesh with the, -fixed electrode.

"For use, with three phase systems the apparatus may consist ofthree, troughs or electrode chambers'open at the top, and in which lare mounted threel moving, electrodes joined together as a neutral point and vertically suspended from rails above thetrough,` The electrolyte may be pumpedl into the three troughs simultaneously at the low level, and vertically movable Weir devices provided whereby the level of the electrolyte ean be gradually raised. This apparatus'` is eX- tremely simple to construct and meets all the requirements oi' a. three phasewinder service, such requirements not havingl been fully'. met heretofore in this type of oontroller, so that it was impossibleA to obtain suliieient range to obtain the minimum current required at. the beginning ot the stroke upl against the. maximum current with the electrodes ysuiticiently far.. apart. It isthus possible by means of the present invention to construct a controller for a given range of resistance, wherein the stroke of the electrode will be very much less than in an ordinary type of controller constructed for the same range of resistance.

l and desire to secure by Letters Patent ir:-

1.' liquid electric controller comprising a through containing an electrolyte, a fixed electrode, a horizontally moving electrode, means for eliecting the horizontal movement ofthe moving' electrode, a vertically moving wei'r provided in the trough and means for eiilecting the vert-ical movement oit the weir., the said horizontal and vertical movementsbeing mechanically coupled together to in ovet-hemovable electrode away from the lixed electrode at the same time that the weir is lowered to vary the extent of immersion ofV both electrodes.

-2. A vliquid electric controller comprising a trough oontaining anr electrolyte, a horizontally movable slide, a movable electro/de connected to, the said slide, aihorizontally movable operating rod also connected to the said slide, a earrying rod 'for the slide'fixed to,the, trough, a fixed electrode, a vertically moving weir provided in the trough, and ineans'or moving the weir vertically, the slide carrying rod being fixed horizontally in the trough above theelectrolyte so that the, slide can'move thereon horizontally, both the, 'slide and the means for movingv the weir vertically being mechanically coupled to the operating rodsoi as to be operated thereby sjnniltaneously.` u 3l liquid electric controller comprising an velectrolyte containing trough, a horizontally moving slide, a movable electrode connected to said slide, operating rod connecting to/said slide, a carrying rod for the slide, fixed to the trough, a fixed electrode,

vertically moving weir provided in thev trough, al Weir raising lever pivoted to the trough, the operating rod being l'mechanically coupled to both the horizontally moving 'slide`l carrying the movable electrodehand tothe Weir raising lever. y l n Ll. liquid electric controller, comprising an, electrolyte containing trough, a horizontally moving electrode, a fixed electrode,'an overflow tube extending through the base of the trough and provided at its top wit-h ay rotatable iupper portion, a` tube rotating A lever pivoted to the trough, and an operating rod, the fixed portion ofthe overilow tubebeing provided with an inclined upper edge, and a rotatable portion with a side openingextendingacross the upper edge, the

operating rodl being mechanically coupled td bothI the horizontally moving electrode and the tube rotating lever.

5. In an electriccontroller, the combination` with an electrolyte.containing tank of an electrode in fixed-relation with said tank; a second electrode'mounted for longitudinal movement relativeV to said tank; and means adapted to regulate the depth of electrolyte n said tank and operated by the movement of said movable electrode; and means for supplying the electrolyte to said tank.

In Witness whereof I afx my signature. HERBERT BROOKE. 

